What is Fine-Grained Soil

The presented research is part of the work “The Ground Reinforcement System With GFRP Composite Bars With Fiber Optic Monitoring,” the purpose of which was to check the suitability of the use of GFRP (glass fiber reinforced polymer) rods for reinforcing selected mineral soils. The preliminary tests included obtaining research material, determining geotechnical parameters, and carrying out tests of pulling GFRP rods out of the ground during microscale model tests. For the purpose of the experiment, a prototype of the pulling device was designed by modifying the direct shear device. The soil samples for strength tests were prepared assuming two leading parameters: water content and normal stress. The program was developed to determine the amount of force pulling the GFRP rod out of coarse-grained soil under the action of a vertical load of various sizes. Ultimately, the presented results of the preliminary tests will be used as the basis for planning tests with fiber-optic monitoring on real-scale models.